Abstract
Oil field development in the Russian Arctic economically contrasts with projects in well developed oil regions. In developed regions (ad ex. West Siberia) considerable cost items are drilling and infield facilities (wellpads, gathering lines and etc.), but external transport infrastructure cost is negligeable. For a new region, especially for the Russian Arctic, cost of external infrastructure is significant. Infrastructure costs substantially affect plateau rate. It’s a common practice to cap oil production rate in order to reduce initial external infrastructure investments, but such effort simultaneously reduces discounted profit of a project. This paper analyses main cost drivers of an external infrastructure in Arctic and harsh environments. Infrastructure cost assessment based on its throughput capacity (maximum oil production rate) is discussed. We propose a method for economical optimization of oil production profile in Arctic environment in correspondence with tanker fleet characteristics.
